Transom Project 2
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Transom Project 2 |
Page 19
This morning I cut out the core for the new floor. Pictured below are 2 pieces of NIDA core cut and fit to place in the boat. The hole in the aft section is for the bilge access. It will be a rectangular Armstrong deck plate. The deck plate will be recessed to the same level as the rest of the deck.
Below is the floor laying on the mold. There is a piece of klegecell which is a shelf that will allow the deck plate to be recessed. It will be easier to see how it will work in the next week or two.
It was an all-day task to glass this part. I spent an hour or so cutting the material to size and then it probably took an hour to lay-up the main part which is the underside of the floor.
I used 2 layers or 1808DB with 4:1 epoxy resin. The shelf for the hatch was glued down and then a fillet was laid around it and several layers of mat were placed and topped off with a layer of 1808DB. The same resin was used, except I used some hardener that was left over from the transom. As mentioned before the metal cans turn it red, but it has no effect on the properties of the resin.
I sanded and scrubbed the underside of the floor part to get the amine blush off and rough it up so I could bond it to the bulkhead and the old floor. Then I removed the tape from inside the boat and grinded the area that I had taped off to get ready for bonding tomorrow. I did some grinding on the old floor and plates I installed and a bit of the foam to get the floor part to fit right.
Then I took the floor part in and out a few times to make adjustments to get it fitting better. Lots of vacuuming and dusting and we are clean, dry, and ready for some fiberglass tomorrow.
Here is a shot of the beginning of the drainage channels in the new floor part. I had been thinking about how to mimic the existing channels in the boat, and I had discovered that a piece of 1" PVC pipe fit perfectly in the original channels. I was planning to make a tool out of wood that was about 3/16" larger than the 1" PVC. While digging in the garage, I found a collar for the 1" PVC and that collar had a difference in radius of about 3/16"! Perfect I had a tool ready made!
I made a batch of epoxy with a 30/70 microballoons to cabosil ratio in case I'd have to sand a little. I slathered the paste into the channels I had cut in the NIDA and then ran the tool through there a few times and cleared out the excess. I came out pretty good.
Below is the filleting tool.
I made a big batch of putty and covered all the edges of the NIDA and put a load of paste on the places where the floor part will rest. I put the floor to place and weighted it down with blocks and whatever else I could find with some weight to it. I even threw my truck-bed rod holder in there.
